Summary
Matthew Sweet delves into the deep history of magic, its evolution into religion and science and its continuing relevance in the 21st century. Joining his coven are novelist and historian Kate Laity, Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford University Chris Gosden, Jessica Gossling who's one of the leaders of the Decadence Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London and John Tresch, Professor of the History of Science and Folk Practice at the Warburg Institute.
The History of Magic - From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present by Chris Gosden is out now.
Chastity Flame by K.A. Laity is available now.
Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right? |
| 0:23.3 | It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream. |
| 0:28.8 | Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:33.3 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:36.8 | Polish your dark mirror and put new water in your witch bottle. |
| 0:40.3 | My name is Matthew Sweet and this is the Arts and Ideas podcast where the magic happens. |
| 0:45.3 | In a few moments you'll meet four people in possession of secret knowledge about alchemy and chiromancy about modernism and astrophysics. |
| 0:54.8 | First, though, listen to these seductive messages. |
| 1:01.3 | Hi, I'm Amal Rajan, and I want to tell you about a new podcast from the BBC. |
| 1:05.8 | It's called Rethink. |
| 1:08.0 | The podcast is all about the enormous opportunity we have to change what the future |
| 1:12.1 | looks like after the coronavirus pandemic. We've asked leading thinkers from around the world |
| 1:16.6 | to give us their three-minute audio essay on the kind of change they want to see, |
| 1:21.3 | covering issues such as travel, healthcare, homelessness, democracy and humility. |
| 1:26.5 | What kind of change can we expect? Will it be changed for the |
| 1:29.6 | better? Or will we pick up where we left off as if nothing had happened? We created the Rethink |
| 1:36.3 | podcast to find out. It's an opportunity for all of us to consider the kind of change we want to see |
| 1:41.7 | in our own lives and in our societies. Subscribe to the |
| 1:45.4 | Rethink Podcast Now, you can find it on BBC Sounds. Is all prepared? Is the circle complete? Does |
| 1:56.0 | Thoth smile upon us? Well, these days with me sitting in the studio and most free-thinking guests, |
| 2:02.4 | coming to me through the ether, every show has a kind of occult quality. All these distinguished |
| 2:08.0 | people seem to be who they say they are, but if one of them was nobbled and replaced by |
... |
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